Top 10 Best Preconstructed Commander Decks

Hey guys, Professor Rakdos here! This is my first article here at Cards Realm, and I'm going to talk about a subject that I really like: Commander!

Nothing better than starting with an article talking about how to get started — and the best way to get started in this format so dear and so loved by most Magic players is to purchase a preconstructed deck made by Wizards themselves and then explore new builds of those decks.

So, in this article, I've separated a Top 10 of the best Preconstructed Commanders!

Criteria

To define this TOP 10, I developed some criteria to understand the reason for each deck here. They are as follows:

1st - Strong Commander: How strong the commander is by itself, its impact individually and on deck construction;

2nd - Synergy: What are the cards with strong synergies, which have interactions that will increase your advantage;

3rd - Staples: What cards do you have in the deck that, if you have them, can go in as many other decks as possible;

4th - Upgrades: How easy it is to upgrade the deck, without changing much of the initial strategy, and what variations of that deck can be created.

Each criterion will receive a score between 1 and 5, the average defines its position in the final ranking.

10) Kamigawa Neon Dynasty – Buckle Up

This deck was released recently, and it surprised me, even more so because the main strength of the deck was a card that, by default, comes within the 99: Shorikai, Genesis Engine, a vehicle that can be your commander and gives you an absurd advantage. With that in mind, I performed the change of commander, who was originally Kotori, Pilot Prodigy.

Some Shorikai builds are already seeing play in cEDH because its ability is triggered when you cast it, after all, when it comes into play it's a vehicle and not a creature - so it doesn't suffer from "summoning sickness" and you make a card selection in your hand, usually by discarding something that won't be as effective and drawing two cards.

Apart from that, there are ways in the preconstructed itself to make the commander become a creature faster than just crewing it — and an 8/8 should always be respected.

One of the cards that catches my attention on this list, and can be considered a Staple, is Mirage Mirror. It is quite versatile, being able to copy opponents' cards as well brings plenty of advantages.

One way to upgrade the deck very efficiently is to add more vehicles, especially from Kaladesh. Some examples are Heart of Kiran or Smuggler's Copter.

In short: this deck arrived recently and has already grabbed the 10th place on our list, largely because of Shorikai, Genesis Engine!

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆

9) Commander 2019 – Merciless Rage

This deck released in Commander 2019 with the famous Anje Falkenrath is, in my opinion, one of the best releases in this set.

Although we have the infamous (which can still be banned) Dockside Extortionist in Sevinne, the Chronoclasm deck, Anje Falkenrath deck ended up showing a lot of resilience and very interesting synergies — precisely because it works hard on the Madness ability (whenever you discard a card with Madness, you can exile it and cast it for Madness cost or put it in the graveyard), and Anje Falkenrath says that whenever you discard a card with Madness, you can untap it to activate her ability again.

This deck brings a lot of synergy with several cards just because they have this ability, and the possibility to increase this with more Madness spells, makes Anje Falkenrath an absurd card in these builds.

The list brought few Staples, but one that I highlight is Hedron Archive, being a very decent Ramp in decks without green, in addition to a new card, Bone Miser, which, in practice, is a Waste Not with a body, and you can even put both of them in the deck — which is great.

One of Anje Falkenrath's very common constructions is to follow the Wheel effects (inspired by Wheel of fortune), cards that make everyone switch hands - and you benefit from every Madness spell you might cast, while other players just discard and draw, or just discard at all.

It is possible to use cards like Megrim, Liliana's Caress, among others that will give you more advantages for making your opponents discard.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆

8) Commander 2017 – Draconic Domination

What about a deck that I played only a few times, but consider a lot? Deck of the famous The Ur-Dragon, the second-best commander with the Eminence ability in this set (spoiler: I'll talk about the first one below), extremely absurd since eminence is absurdly broken, where it works even with the commander in the Command Zone. The fact that it reduces the costs of all dragons by one generic mana makes the deck even more powerful.

In general, dragon-type creatures have a high cost, and the reduction makes the deck one of the strongest tribals at the time — and not only that, his ability when attacking makes him even stronger.

Another factor is that the deck has 5 colors, where you have everything you need. Mainly the green ramps, blue draws and black removals, make the deck a kind of toolbox for you to improve the list. All this without losing the identity of the dragon tribe — and we agree that having a large group of dragons puts fear into any player on the table.

With the addition of Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate and the insane amount of new dragons, this Precon gains even more strength. I take a point away from upgrades for the fact that, for you to have a consistent manabase in a 5-color deck, you have to invest a lot more — or settle for many lands entering the battlefield tapped.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆

7) Commander 2014 - Built From Scratch

One of the most fun decks to play at the time it was released. The famous Planeswalker Daretti, Scrap Savant. Here was the set where, for the first time, we were introduced to cards that could be the Commander — but they weren't legendary creatures, but Planeswalkers. The strength of these decks was surprising.

The deck strayed from the Mono Red stereotype like Krenko, Mob Boss or Burn itself, being focused on reanimating artifacts. The idea was to use Daretti, Scrap Savant's first ability frequently to discard high-cost artifacts, and circumvent having to pay the often very high mana cost.

Artifact creatures on the list, like Bosh, Iron Golem, Myr Battlesphere and the wonderful Wurmcoil Engine were cards that were already bringing absurd consistency, and you could do that with Daretti, Scrap Savant's second ability, as there are artifacts like Mycosynth Wellspring that have effects when it comes into play and when it goes to the graveyard — so sacrificing an artifact was normally doubly beneficial.

And if you could ultimate him, then it was practically GG. One detail is that you could do that even if you lost Daretti, Scrap Savant because he was your commander, so next turn you could probably bring him back. The main staples in this deck were Wurmcoil Engine, Faithless Looting, Blasphemous Act and Mind Stone.

I've seen very interesting lists with several upgrades, even more with the addition of the Lorehold deck in Strixhaven that brought several new tools, including bigger creatures like Triplicate Titan, which is like a super Wurmcoil Engine. Recently Wizards has been releasing numerous cards in red that make artifact tokens such as treasure token, food, clue, and blood—which can be used as sacrifices for Daretti, Scrap Savant's second ability.

In short: Upgrading the deck is pretty easy, and the fact that it's Mono Red also makes it easy to build a consistent mana base.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

6) Commander 2016 - Invent Superiority

A deck I've played a lot against and have a huge appreciation for — from our friend Breya, Etherium Shaper. The first time we were introduced to 4-color commanders, it was 5 decks with each one “missing” a color — and in Breya's case, it's without the green. After all, when it comes to artifacts, green is not a big fan—in fact, the best artifact removals are green.

This deck brought new perspectives to the archetype of the previous deck, it even came among the 99 precon cards of Daretti, Scrap Savant. So, it brings a lot of the same strengths that Daretti brought, but this time in a montage more focused on using the sacrifices in your favor, precisely because of Breya, Etherium Shaper. Invent Superiority has also gained a lot of traction recently with Strixhaven and the Lorehold deck, which has brought in several new cards for more synergy.

One of the mechanics extensively explored in these Commanders was Partner. All of them had some color variation at the time of assembly, and in the case of Breya, Etherium Shaper they were Akiri, Line-Slinger, Silas Renn, Seeker Adept or Bruse Tarl, Boorish Herder. Some Staples in this deck are Thopter Foundry, Nevinyrral's Disk, Skullclamp, among others.

This deck smells like a combo, just having Thopter Foundry you already think about Sword of the Meek, Thopter Assembly, Time Sieve, still with the safety of blue to have counterspells, the advantage of black with removals and white for protection

Anyway, the deck is very focused on the combo. Most of the time it doesn't depend on the commander, but she's excellent on the field, and it's a deck that gained this position precisely due to strong upgrades possibilities.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

5) Commander 2015 – Plunder the Graves

Now let's talk about an archetype that I really like in Commander: Reanimator, which consists of bringing back powerful creatures, without actually having to pay their cost, after all, it's to bring them back from the graveyard to play. In this aspect, Meren of Clan Nel Toth is extremely efficient.

The deck revolves a lot around the commander's own ability, so the idea is very focused on creatures that have an ability when they enter the battlefield, while also having a way to take creatures off your board, to bring them back, and so on - Repeating the process.

A good example of this is Shriekmaw which, for the Evoke cost, you have to sacrifice it while it kills an opponent's creature, so you take advantage of both by having Meren of Clan Nel Toth on the battlefield, still being able to reanimate it eventually, or simply returning from the graveyard to the hand. Cards like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Viridian Emissary give you that ramp you need and still work as a sacrifice for these abilities.

But that's where Meren of Clan Nel Toth's problems come in. The deck is very dependent on the commander to have the biggest advantage, and any card that deals well with the graveyard also ends up causing endless problems. Offsetting this, we are in Golgari colors, which gives removal and discard in black. In the end, the deck turned out to be very resilient in numerous builds, and it flirts a lot with many combos within those colors.

All cards that make you sacrifice while harming your opponents are very welcome, in addition to Fleshbag Marauder, Spore Frog, among others that sacrifice themselves, as well as cards that work as a sacrifice engine like Ashnod's Altar.

This deck is easy to upgrade, even more so with the amount of cards released in Strixhaven at the Witherbloom school, which also explores this archetype.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

4) Strixhaven – Prismari Performance

Zaffai, Thunder Conductor, despite being a relatively common preconstructed, if slightly reinforced, brings a lot more strength in what it can become. Precisely for this reason, Zaffai gained this prominent position. It's not that the deck is bad when freshly opened — it's relatively strong, and has its advantages in the early, mid, and late game, but it can be extremely stronger with few upgrades.

The deck's Staples are mainly Dualcaster Mage, creatures that give you value precisely because of the Magecraft ability, and Talrand, Sky Summoner.

Spells like Brainstorm, Faithless looting, Mind's Desire, Dig Through Time, Treasure Cruise, Blasphemous Act, and artifacts like Pyromancer's Goggles are cards that give this deck plenty of new resources, especially with Zaffai, Thunder Conductor in play.

As I mentioned above, what shines here are the upgrades — if you invest relatively little, financially speaking, you can make this deck simply absurd. Within this idea of ​​spell copies and combos.

This type of strategy is what we call Spellslinger, that is, it plays many spells and takes advantage of it. The main combos run cards with Storm, such as Grapeshot or Mind's Desire, and one of the main cards for you to have a combo is Aetherflux Reservoir.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

3) Dungeons & Dragons – Planar Portal

And we come to our Bronze medal, our favorite Tiefling: Prosper, Tome-Bound. Deck with an absurd synergy, especially in relation to the cards played from exile, and the commander himself does it with great mastery. Because it generates treasures, it provides ramps in a very peculiar combination, and apart from that, by itself, the freshly taken out of the box deck already has plenty of ways to ramp through the artifacts that generate mana.

Looking at this deck, we see how concerned Wizards has been about creating stable precons — not too strong, but not too weak either. I particularly loved this deck, it was my first Rakdos commander and I have to say that there are cards in this deck that make it strong. In all the games I played with the others out of the box, in two of them I lost due to my wrong plays because the list gave me all the weapons I needed to win, but because I was nervous due to the inexperience with the deck, I didn't notice it at the right time and let it go.

There's a certain dependency on having the commander on the board, but the fact that he has Deathtouch gives him a benefit of holding back some problems, and because it has a relatively low mana cost + treasure ramps, it ends up becoming quite efficient.

Some staples it has are cards that were released with that deck: Grim Hireling and Chaos Wand.

Upgrades are relatively smooth. With treasure and token creation effects, it's easy to add combos to the list, including creatures that deal damage when an artifact enters the battlefield, such as Reckless Fireweaver or when artifacts are put into the graveyard, such as Marionette Master (which is even in the deck).

Effects you cast from exile, such as suspend, foretell, cascade, and adventures also give you many advantages. A very common card to see here is Dream Devourer, which makes your cards have foretell.

The biggest problem I ended up seeing with this deck was the fact that it was released in the middle of the pandemic, while we were still playing via spelltable, so playing with other people's cards gave you some problems to control. But this is completely workable with the return of in-person events, and this deck will shine.

I've even seen some very strong lists, with several upgrades, on cEDH. That's why he reached this level in our top 10.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

2) Commander 2017 - Vampiric Bloodlust

We've arrived at my favorite Commander 2017 deck from our dear and beloved vampire Edgar Markov. In my opinion, the best tribal there is in Magic.

With the extremely broken ability Eminence, Edgar Markov is not far behind, as he doesn't need to be at the table to generate an advantage against opponents. At the time of release, everyone looked with suspicion, and with good reason, for this deck, which proved to be extremely powerful - even more so with many cards from vampires that steal life, take resources and more.

Within the Mardu colors, which gives you protection from white, removals and strong creatures in black and red, the deck only generates advantages. Each vampire you cast also spawns an extra vampire token— that with Captivating Vampire (which is in the deck) is devastating. Even after a mass removal, the next turn this list already had 4, 6, 8 or 10 creatures on the board quickly, generating value. If you put Edgar Markov himself on the battlefield, you would definitely already have many vampires and put a lot of pressure while increasing their power.

This deck shone at the time for the Commander Staples that came, such as Teferi's Protection, Swords to Plowshares, Mortify, Return to Dust, Merciless Eviction, Skullclamp, Black Market, Sanguine Bond and Edgar Markov himself, which was a card that had high value for a long time.

The deck upgrades are pretty obvious: every vampire within the core. We have several examples of these guys every time we visit Innistrad. Olivia Voldaren is just absurd in this deck. We also have examples of white vampires back in Ixalan.

Vampires are a relatively recurring tribe in Magic history, so we never run out of options. This deck flirts a lot with combos related to Sanguine Bond, Exquisite Blood, Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, among other cards that explore your life and your opponents' life totals.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

1) Commander 2016 - Breed Lethality

We finally arrived at the champion of this Top 10 and champion in my heart. Anyone who knows me knows, that I'm suspicious to talk about the beautiful, wonderful Atraxa, Praetors' Voice. As I mentioned before, it came in Commander 2016 with the 4-color decks, where one color was missing. In her case, without the red.

Just by looking at Atraxa, Praetors' Voice you can tell she's strong. WithFlying, Vigilance, Lifelink and Deathtouch, and at end of turn still Proliferates; She alone is an extremely powerful commander, and from the deck's abilities and builds, she can work on virtually any deck that works with counters on permanents and/or players.

The precon is heavily based on +1/+1 counters, which is common in Atraxa-based decks. Like the Breya, Etherium Shaper deck, this one has some creatures with the Partner ability , such as Reyhan, Last of the Abzan, Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker, Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper, in addition to the spells Mortify, Putrefy, Languish, Merciless Eviction, Treasure Cruise, which are cards used on virtually any commander within these colors.

The deck stands out a lot for its versatility in colors, with green for Ramp, white for protection, blue for counterspells and draws and black for removals and discards. But while that's its strength, it's also its problem, as it relies heavily on a very consistent multicolored manabase.

Like The Ur-Dragon, you won't have a problem if you don't mind having some lands entering tapped, but maintaining consistency and resilience, even more so with Atraxa, Praetors' Voice helping to give you a good amount of life. The long game benefits you a lot, especially when you have time to make your plays.

As someone who knows this deck well and the strategies involved, including getting me to the semifinals of the Commander 500, Atraxa, Praetors' Voice features a variety of builds. The most common are +1/+1 counters and Planeswalkers, as you can proliferate loyalty counters on our Super Friends, making Planeswalkers generate more value.

When I built my version of the deck, I focused on Planeswalkers that creates Emblems, such as Tamiyo, Field Researcher, Tamiyo, The Moon Sage, Teferi, Hero of Dominaria, Venser, the Sojourner among others. One of the fairly common builds that relatively recently became Tribal is the Infect version, as Atraxa, Praetors' Voice, many Infect creatures and the Praetors have gained the Phyrexian type, which made it even more interesting to build.

Other strategy possibilities are with counters on players like experience, energy, or counters on other permanents like artifacts and sagas. The versatility of this deck is what makes her here in this position.

It might be a bit biased since she is my favorite, but everyone has to agree that she is a great commander and, if played by those with experience, you get some wins at unlikely tables.

- Strong Commander ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Synergy ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Staples ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

- Upgrades ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

I hope I have helped you understand a bit more about this format that is gaining new fans every day, and as I mentioned at the beginning, the best way for you to start is through Precons!

Thank you and until next time!